On June 30, 2009, the jury ruled Kelley was entitled to the benefits.
Kelley, an account manager with Coca-Cola, was injured during a mandatory corporate kick-off event along the Little Miami River promoting the release of Coca-Cola Zero on July 12, 2007.
“As part of the team-building event ... all of the Coca-Cola employees in attendance, including Kelley, were encouraged to canoe down a three-mile stretch of the Little Miami River,” according to the opinion written by Judge Stephen W. Powell.
After the canoe ride, a Coca-Cola sales center manager remarked how Kelley did not look wet from his canoe ride. After a brief exchange, the manager, along with the distribution manager, “grabbed Kelley and tried to pull him down the embankment and into the river. According to Kelley, when their efforts proved futile, Hall ‘grabbed (him) and slammed (him) to the ground’ causing him to injure his neck. As a result of this incident, Kelley was treated for a cervical dorsal strain and a herniated disc.”
The three-judge panel ruled Kelley was entitled to benefits, despite arguments from lawyers for Coca-Cola that the trial judge erred during instructions to the jury and in admitting evidence from the treating physician.
Powell was joined in the opinion by judges H.J. Bressler and Robert A. Hendrickson.
Lawyer Scott Young said he would be meeting with Coca-Cola to decide whether to appeal the ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court.
“We’re wholly satisfied with the court’s ruling,” said Christopher Kneflin, one of the lawyers representing Kelley.
Barring appeal, Kelley’s claim can now be processed by the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation.